Pressemitteilungen

A Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Celebrates the Co-Founder’s Spirit of Innovation and Logitech’s Collaboration with the Illustrious University

Lausanne, Switzerland — Sept. 30, 2010 — Logitech today opened the doors of the Daniel Borel Innovation Center, a new working environment that aims to continue the legacy of innovation set by its co-founder in 1981. The new facility is located in the “Quartier de l'Innovation” section of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne’s (EPFL) campus and marks another important milestone in the special collaboration between the Swiss firm and the university at which Logitech’s first mouse offering was conceived.

This new site will allow Logitech to take its innovative spirit a step further, within an ideally suited environment to spur innovative thinking. The building design fosters team work and hosts the research and development of next-generation products for personal computing platforms as well as for TV screens in the digital home, smartphones and meeting room screens. Furthermore, the Logitech incubator will continue to best leverage its connections with EPFL, serving as a think tank for product innovation and the creation of new experiences.

“This is an important day for Logitech,” commented Junien Labrousse, Logitech executive vice president of products and president of Logitech Europe. “Not only do we have a chance to honor and acknowledge our co-founder Daniel Borel and his achievements, but we also have the opportunity to remind our employees that it is his strong spirit of innovation and will to always push the boundaries of what is possible that has allowed Logitech to become the international success that it is today.

“Daniel Borel had the courage to dream big back in 1981, and we want to ensure that his philosophy is always at the center of everything we do in the years to come,” continued Labrousse. “The ‘Quartier de l'Innovation’ at the EPFL is the perfect environment to foster new ideas and to continue his dream.”

“We are happy to welcome Logitech as the first company to move to the ‘Quartier de L’Innovation’,” said Mr. Patrick Aebischer, president of EPFL. “The collaboration between our campus and Logitech has resulted in some crucial innovation in the past and we are sure that this new proximity will be conducive to some exciting projects in the years to come.”

Logitech has had a long-standing and close relationship with EPFL since the company’s beginnings in 1981. EPFL’s Professor Jean-Daniel Nicoud and his team were among the first to refine the computer mouse, which was to become Logitech’s first – the Logitech® P4 Mouse. Since then, many innovations have been developed between the two organizations and Logitech today counts numerous former students among its staff. Moving its Swiss-based R&D to the EPFL campus is therefore a natural evolution of this relationship.

About the Daniel Borel Innovation Center
Innovation has already inspired the building itself, which was conceived following the MINERGIE label requirements (www.minergie.com). Building to MINERGIE standards means providing high-grade, air-tight building envelopes and the continuous renewal of air in the building using an energy-efficient ventilation system. Specific energy consumption is used as the main indicator to quantify the required building quality.

But innovation is also about team work. All meeting room walls are coated with a special material that transforms the walls in gigantic whiteboards and each floor has a relaxed seating area to conduct ad hoc brainstorming sessions and encourage collaboration across teams.

About Logitech
Logitech is a world leader in products that connect people to the digital experiences they care about. Spanning multiple computing, communication and entertainment platforms, Logitech’s combined hardware and software enable or enhance digital navigation, music and video entertainment, gaming, social networking, audio and video communication over the Internet, video security and home-entertainment control. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI).

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